BA delays moving long-haul flights to beleaguered T5

Delay: BA has decided to postpone moving its long-haul flights to T5, which has suffered baggage problems from the day it opened

British Airways has scrapped plans to move its long-haul operations to Terminal 5 at the end of the month.

In yet another embarrassing setback, BA said it wanted to "iron out" the problems at the £4.3billion facility before completing the transfer of flights.

The decision provoked fury from rival airlines, which accused BA and Heathrow operator BAA of showing "total disregard" for other carriers.

Nigel Turner, chief executive of bmi, said his airline was given only 30 minutes' notice of the decision.

"It is an absolutely outrageous announcement and done with no thought, consideration or consultation of any other airline other than BA.

"The sequence of moves affects over 50 airlines, including bmi, at Heathrow. The programme and timescale of changes was agreed in joint consultation with all airlines that are now geared up to undertake the moves as agreed."

The airline and others have demanded meetings with BAA and have not ruled out legal action.

BA had planned to complete the second phase of its relocation to T5 on 30April. But chief executive Willie Walsh said this would now not happen until 5 June at the earliest, and is likely to be phased in rather than happen in a "big bang". There are fears that if the schedule slips again, the switch will still not be complete by the summer peak.

Around 120 long-haul BA departures and arrivals, including all those on its single most important route - to New York - are still operating from Terminal 4. Although that is much fewer than the 380 mainly short-haul flights already in T5, the larger aircraft and extra number of bags carried per passenger-means that the burden will in effect be doubled. Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, said: "It is only sensible to ensure that Terminal 5 is operating consistently at a high standard before the move begins."

Colin Matthews, BAA's chief executive, said: "We recognise the impact it has on other airlines but we believe it is a wise precaution to ensure that passengers can have the maximum confidence once the move does take place.

"BAA fully recognises that the inauguration of Terminal 5 has not been as

smooth as we would have wished."

BA has said that the T5 launch fiasco will cost it an extra £16million and the further delay is likely to increase that figure. A spokeswoman for BAA said no airlines had been due to move into the space at Terminal 4 vacated by BA until January following refurbishment work. These are Malaysian Airlines, Gulf Air and Jet Airways, followed by Air France, Alitalia, Aeroflot, CSA Czech and Korean Air in February.